The present invention relates to a plate inserting apparatus in a rotary printing press which automatically inserts a new plate in the plate fixing unit of a plate cylinder.
As a plate inserting apparatus of this type, one is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-77968. The apparatus disclosed in this reference has a cassette having a new plate setting unit on which a new plate is to be set and swingably supported by frames, and an actuator for moving the cassette at a plate mounting position and retreat position. In this arrangement, a plate cylinder is pivoted by a predetermined amount and the actuator is operated to move the cassette to the plate mounting position. The distal end of the cassette is set to face the plate fixing unit of the plate cylinder, so that the new plate of the new plate setting unit is inserted in the plate fixing unit of the plate cylinder.
Since the conventional plate inserting apparatus in the rotary printing press described above requires a new plate setting unit for setting the new plate thereon, a large-size cassette is needed. Such a cassette narrows the work space among printing units and decreases the workability in maintenance and inspection. A large-size actuator is also needed for moving the cassette. As a result, not only the apparatus becomes large in size but also its structure becomes complicated.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a plate exchanging apparatus in which the workability is improved.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a plate exchanging apparatus which is downsized and the structure of which is simplified.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a plate inserting apparatus in a rotary printing press for inserting a plate in a plate fixing unit of a plate cylinder, comprising a plate holder for holding the plate, and actuator means for moving the plate holder in directions to come close to and separate from the plate cylinder, wherein the plate holder forms a moving track comprised of at least a first straight portion extending in a direction to insert the plate held by the plate holder into the plate fixing unit, and a curved portion connected to a counter plate cylinder-side end of the first straight portion to change a traveling direction of the plate holder.